10.3- Near Edom-TMI:
Julian had run up to Emma after the stoning of June Iparis, and taken her to a nearby cave before the rumbling had started. The ground shook for about a minute before the cave floor revealed a chute down to the unknown. They backed out of the cave quickly, and saw that the ground was widening extremely quickly, they ran the opposite direction, and managed to keep running until the ground quieted. Julian had seen a few Tributes fall into the chasm, but not all of them. Suddenly, bright flashes began appearing above-ground. The sky turned purple, tinged with streaks of red. Julian glanced up and noticed there was a swirling mass of energy that had appeared in the sky, resembling a wormhole. 'A Portal', he thought. The Portal started gaining energy, expanding as fast as the hole in the ground had done. Trees started to get uprooted, being lifted into the sky and then sucked by the wormhole. Julian and Emma scrambled to hold on to something, but it was too late. They went airborne. He saw the Tributes who didn't fall be lifted from various places around the arena as well, and then they entered the Portal. A tugging sensation pulled at his guts, and he landed face-first onto... "SAND?!?!", Emma yelled. Julian knew where he was as he tasted what was in the sand... Blood. Demon blood. He looked up, spit out the sand in his face, and took in his surroundings. He had never been here before, but he had heard tales of this hellish place since he was a young boy. All Shadowhunters had. Emma breathed out "Edom", and Julian knew his fears were confirmed. A putrid smell of trash-like yuck hit them, stinging their nostrils. He looked at the burned-out landscape and the scorched yellow-grey sky. The sun was a dull orange colour, and the ground was ashy. They got up, and started to walk towards what looked like a cave entrance. Julian remembered how Clary, Jace, Izzy, Alec, and Simon had all described their experiences of Edom, the mirror world which had been overrun by demons. He saw Emma stiffen, and followed her gaze to find that the other Tributes who entered the Portal had started to appear around them. Some still in miniature groups, most individual. Julian recognized Sam Temple as the boy closest to them, and watched him approaching. Sam raised his hands as if he was surrendering, but Julian noticed he had a hard look on his face. Julian raised his sword, and Sam's hands started glowing, but a loud, persistent hissing noise to Sam's left distracted the both of them. Over the hillside appeared a gigantic snake-headed creature with a scaly insectile body supported by a dozen clawed legs. It had yellow poison dripping from its fangs, and it eyed the two Tributes hungrily. It skittered back and forth, as if it was pacing. Sam turned his hands on it and out of his hands came twin beams of glowing green light which blasted the creature and drove it backwards. It's thick hide smoldered, but other than that it was untouched. It hissed louder, and more of them appeared into view. Emma whispered "Elapid demons", and Julian nodded, watching Sam try to blast them all. They surrounded him, and then sank their fangs into his body. Sam screamed as the venom entered his bloodstream, and his glowing hands turned off. The Elapid demons ripped into him, and a cannon shot rang out as they dropped Sam's bones to the ground. They eyed Emma and Julian, who noticed that any other Tributes that were in the vicinity had fled. Julian looked at Emma, and they silently communicated that this amount of Elapid demons would be hard to fight, even with their combined Parabatai strength. And so they ran, back towards where that first Portal had deposited them. They looked back and raised their swords as the Elapid demons, who were hot on their heels, approached while hissing and sputtering. Luckily enough, a new Portal appeared behind them, and they jumped through.
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